Pedestal Shrinks For North

Oliver North a hero? Deserving of an immediate presidential pardon? Most Americans now say no to each of the above, according to a poll by CBS News and The New York Times.

That's encouraging. It makes sense that more and more people, many of them no doubt using second thoughts, want a jury's findings before they decide how far up on a pedestal Mr. North belongs.

His approval rating has fallen in CBS-Times polling from 59 percent during the congressional hearings to 44 percent in the new poll. About 70 percent of the people interviewed in that poll say he's no hero.

That doesn't mean they dislike him altogether. By a ratio of about 2-to- 1, they think of him as a ''real patriot'' whose actions in the Iran-Contra affair were well-intentioned but went too far.

The ratio by which they rejected the idea of a pretrial pardon was more than 2-to-1 -- specifically, 64 percent to 27. All these figures are considered accurate within plus or minus 3 percent.

The respondents split evenly, at 43 percent, on the matter of whether he should be pardoned if found guilty on any of the counts against him.

Conservatives, Southerners and Reagan supporters were found most likely to consider Mr. North a hero. That seems to fit in with Sentinel Sound Off results: 72 percent of callers last Sunday and Monday said North should get a pardon.

There's not much chance of a pardon before November's general election in any case. The Republicans would pay for it in polling of a more significant sort.